ACEPS - 2012 91 Estimation of Pedestrian walking speeds at controlled cross walks in Sri Lanka - a pilot study T. M. Rengarasu 1 , H.N. Jayawansa 2 and G.P.W. Perera 2 1 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering University of Ruhuna Hapugala Galle SRI LANKA 2 Faculty of Engineering, University of Ruhuna Hapugala Galle SRI LANKA E-mail: rengarasu@cee.ruh.ac.lk Abstract: This study aims to develop and test a methodology to extract pedestrian speed data from video footage and to find the pedestrian walking speed Sri Lankans. This study was done in the premises of the Faculty of Engineering, University of Ruhuna. Pedestrians were walking across a measured length was videotaped and the resulting footage was analysed after breaking the footage into frames. For each pedestrian walking event sex of the subject and the starting and ending clock times were recorded. Results showed that sex of the pedestrian did not have a significant effect on the walking speed of the pedestrians. Further, results showed that test subjects walked with a 15 th percentile speed of 1.20 m/s. This walking speed is as par with the USA walking speed and faster than the Singaporeans’ walking speed when compared with the speeds reported in the previous studies. However it is noted that this walking speed may go down if we include more test subjects from elderly age category. Keywords: Pedestrians Walking speed, Pedestrian crossing, Speed data from 1. INTRODUCTION Pedestrian walking speed at a cross walk is an important and essential parameter in intersection traffic design. Pedestrian walking speed determines the pedestrian crossing time. 15 th percentile of the pedestrian walking speed distribution is used in the signal designs as the design pedestrian walking speed. For a safe crossing, the “Walk” phase in a signal cycle must be at least equal to the pedestrian crossing time based on the design pedestrian walking speed. In related literature design pedestrian walking speeds are suggested. Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) for Streets and Highways (Federal Highway Administration 2009) published by the Federal Highway Administration USA, suggest a speed of 1.2 m/s (4 ft/s) as the appropriate pedestrian speed at cross walks. This speed of 1.2 m/s (4 ft/s) was first introduced in the 1961 version of MUTCD for streets and highways. According to LaPlante and Kaeser (LaPlante & Kaeser 2007) the speed of 1.2 m/s is based on an unpublished study by Exnicios in 1952 (Exnicios 1952). However, many studies have questioned this suitability of this speed and different pedestrian walking speeds have been found. A 1996 study by Knoblauch (Knoblauch et al. 1996) found that a 1.19 m/s speed is appropriate for younger pedestrians while 0.91 m/s was suggested for older pedestrians. A 1999 study by Young has found pedestrian walking speed to have a mean of 263.26 m/min with a standard deviation 52.49 m/min. A 2001 study by Tarawneh (Tarawneh 2001) showed that the 15th percentile pedestrian walking speed for general public in Jordan is 1.11 m/s and 0.97 m/s for old age people. A 2005 study by Gates et al. (Gates et al. 2006) using 1,947 pedestrian crossing events measured at eleven intersections in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, recommended pedestrian walking speed values base on percentage of old age pedestrians. According to Gates et al. when the brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by Digital Repository, University of Moratuwa